


a pair of glasses

by hetzi_clutch



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Cute, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Humor, Pre-Relationship, Romance, ive never written a straight ship before god help me, james used to wear glasses, kara is self conscious and james is super adorable, karolsen, shameless fluff, this isn't even my ship but i had this idea in my head and i think i converted, this will give you cavities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 03:54:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13473159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hetzi_clutch/pseuds/hetzi_clutch
Summary: Sometimes, Kara is self-conscious about her glasses.Sometimes, James notices.





	a pair of glasses

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, it's your author the idiot here. I wrote this entire oneshot under the (wrong) assumption that I remembered Jimmy Olsen as wearing glasses in the original 1978 movie. I was wrong. He never wears glasses. Not in any version. Ever. Which defeats the entire point of this fic.
> 
> Anyway, I already wrote it, so enjoy! And just pretend for a moment that younger James did, in fact, wear glasses.

Sometimes, Kara didn’t like her glasses.

She’d never been self-conscious about them at first, until one day in high school Alex had offhandedly mentioned that a lot of people found glasses to be unattractive. They’d been watching The Princess Diaries after weeks of Kara begging, and during the infamous makeover scene, she’d wondered out loud why part of the makeover involved ridding Anne Hathaway of her glasses.

“Because they’re supposed to symbolize being nerdy and unattractive,” Alex answered with a shrug, eyes still glued to the screen. She hadn’t noticed how Kara’s face had fallen, or how she’d reached up to fiddle with her glasses, suddenly self-conscious of how the square lenses framed her face. 

Alex hadn’t meant any harm by the comment, of course, but it sat with Kara even so. Despite her attempts to put the idea out of her mind - it wasn’t like appearance made up a person’s worth, anyway - she occasionally found herself in front of the mirror, biting her lip as she scrutinized her bespeckled appearance. Just once in a while she wished that she could leave the house as Kara Danvers without them - pretend that she had contact lenses. But of course, that was impossible.

Sometimes, James noticed the way Kara didn’t like her glasses.

He noticed it in the way she would often fidget with the frames self-consciously, the way he had with his first pair of prescription lenses - because they had been ugly, big and square and brown, and made him feel like a dweeb. 

He noticed how she almost never wore them when she didn’t have to, discarding them the minute she was out of the public eye. They were the first thing to go when she sped into her super suit, and James couldn’t recall a single instance when he’d ever seen Kara wear them in the safety of her own apartment - they were off the minute she stepped through the door, tossed onto the couch or the counter.

At first, he thought that she found them uncomfortable - not used to wearing them, perhaps, after she had come to earth, or maybe she didn’t like the way they muffled her powers. Then again, Clark had never complained about his glasses, and in fact often forgot to take them off at home, even occasionally falling asleep with the frames dangling from his face.

It all clicks into place, one day, when James sees Kara talking to Adam Foster. He’s all the way across the room, and so free to watch the exchange undetected - and though he can’t quite make out the topic of conversation, it looks like flirting. He watches as Adam says something, making Kara blush, and then James frowns as she reaches up to touch her glasses, looking for just a second as if she wants to take them off. Instead her fingers brush the frames and she glances down shyly. They talk for a few more minutes before parting ways, and James finds himself staring at the spot that the pair had vacated, frowning.

Kara was self-conscious about her glasses. Why?

The next day, James showed up to work wearing his old frames, the ones he’d abandoned the minute he’d gotten contacts, because they reminded him of the dweeby, awkward, rookie photographer that he used to be.

Kara’s mouth fell open the minute she caught sight of James, sporting the bulky brown frames. 

He gave her a teasing grin. “Something on my face?” 

Kara suddenly seemed aware that her jaw was hanging open and snapped it shut, her cheeks coloring.

“No, uh, it’s just -” She stuttered, her blush growing deeper. “Um, you’re wearing glasses.”

“Well, without them I’m blind as a bat,” James said, an easy smile on his face. “Thought I’d give the contacts a rest for a day or two.”

The color faded from her cheeks as Kara returned a hesitant smile.

“I didn’t even know you wore glasses,” She admitted sheepishly. “I thought I was the only one.”

“What, in the world?” James gasped in mock surprise.

“No, dummy, of our friends.” Kara’s nose wrinkled at his bad joke. “I mean, technically I don’t need them, but - “

“- You still have to wear them,” James finished. “Even though you don’t like them.”

Kara’s eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know I don’t like my glasses?”

James chuckled. “As one glasses-wearer to another, I can spot the signs. Did I tell you that I first got this pair in middle school? They were the ugliest pair in the shop, but the only one with my prescription, so my mom forced me to wear them every day. I hated them. I got contacts the second I could.”

Kara blushed again. “I don’t think they look that bad.”

“Hm, tell that to my middle school crush,” James replied ruefully. “I like your pair a lot better though. They look very nice on you.”

“Really?” She reached up unconsciously to fiddle with her glasses, and then seemed to think better of it, instead tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I always hated them. Once Alex told me that most people on earth considered glasses to be dorky and unattractive, and that always stuck with me, I guess.”

James snorted. “Yeah, I’ve heard Lois fawn over Clark’s glasses enough to know that’s not necessarily true. I think people who have glasses tend to think that more than people who don’t. At least, I’ve never heard of them actually being a deal-breaker for someone - except for that girl I liked in seventh grade, but I think she’s the exception.”

Kara laughed at that. “Maybe. Or maybe she really did like you, and didn’t know how to show it.”

“See, I like that version of the story better.” James smiled, and then said: “You know, I really hope you don’t feel too self-conscious about your glasses, Kara. I, personally, think you look very pretty with or without them.”

Kara’s blush returned in an instant, and she glanced at the ground, trying and failing to hide the grin that split across her face. After a moment she glanced back up and met James’ gaze again. With a cheeky grin, she said:

“Thanks, I think you look very pretty in yours as well.” 

“Oh, well then,” James rolled his eyes, and reached up, making as if to dramatically remove his glasses. “If that’s how it is, I’m going back to the contacts.”

“No, no!” Kara said, laughing. “Don’t, really. I like them on you.”

“Fine,” James grinned, and crossed his arms, leaning against his desk. “But if Winn says I’m pretty too, that’s the last straw. I have a reputation to uphold.”

Kara smiled softly, her eyes crinkling. “Deal.” 

“Deal.” 

They shook on it, with great solemnity, and the next day James showed up again sporting his glasses, as well as the day after, and the day after that. Winn never called him pretty, but he did make plenty of jokes about James’s coolness level lowering to meet Winn’s, until James gently reminded him that he had a good five inches of ‘coolness factor’ on the smaller man. The jokes petered out after that, and though James sometimes found himself bothered by the little annoyances that came with glasses - fogging up when he went to take a sip of coffee, or slipping down his nose as he bent over an article - it was worth it to see the way Kara smiled when she caught sight of his bespeckled face.  


Maybe the glasses weren’t quite so dweeby as he had thought.


End file.
